Miami's historic Deauville Beach Resort is demolished as a Frank Gehry-designed replacement fails to start

2022-11-15T18:15:00-05:00

The 17-story tower of the historic Deauville Beach Resort in Miami Beach was successfully imploded just after 8 a.m. Sunday. The oceanfront building at 6701 Collins Ave. crumbled to the ground in a matter of seconds after a series of thundering booms, marking the end of the road for a hotel that famously hosted the Beatles in 1964 and fell into disrepair in recent years.

The demolition brought to a close a tumultuous saga that saw local preservationists and the city government sue its owner Alex Meruelo over what they said was a wanton disregard for local heritage standards and other code violations more or less continuously issued since an electrical fire seriously damaged the Melvin Grossman-designed MiMo-style structure in July of 2017.

Previously on Archinect: Frank Gehry's Equinox Towers scheme is one step closer to reality in Miami Beach

Taking its place might be Frank Gehry’s proposed Equinox Towers scheme that is still awaiting approval before construction can begin on what has been labeled as a “passion project” for megadeveloper and Miami Beach native Stephen Ross. The plan was rejected by voters last week, leaving a void likely to be filled with a similar condominium design needed as a stopgap to the expected exodus brought about by the onset of new Surfside-inspired safety laws.

Today we lost the North Beach landmark Deauville Hotel due ...

Frank Gehry's Equinox Towers scheme is one step closer to reality in Miami Beach

2022-07-22T13:08:00-04:00

A Gehry Partners proposal to redevelop Miami’s historic Deauville Beach Resort into a luxury hotel and condominium dubbed Equinox Towers is gaining traction after officials there agreed to move the plan to public vote on Wednesday.

The firm’s initial concept model of the project revealed to the Miami Beach City Commission during the hearing indicated a 125-unit condo design to stand beside a taller sculptural hotel with 175 rooms, potentially bringing another big-name architectural design to an undiscovered portion of the city’s gilded 35-mile-long coast.

The architect is developing the newly-named plan alongside Related Companies CEO and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who told the Miami Herald the idea of having a second Gehry project in the neighborhood where he grew up “held a special place in his heart,” adding that it will “rebuild and lift a whole community.”

The Deauville Beach Resort as it appeared in 2016. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons user VM (CC BY-SA 4.0)

There h...

Archinect - News

Miami's historic Deauville Beach Resort is demolished as a Frank Gehry-designed replacement fails to start

Frank Gehry's Equinox Towers scheme is one step closer to reality in Miami Beach